Advanced method and apparatus to process Bitumen containing impurities

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to open-pit mining wherein crushed bitumen is fed into an enclosed pyrolyzer and heated under pressure in a reduced atmosphere where the cracking of asphalt results in a tar-free bitumen in the form of volatile matter containing a hydrogen rich, non-condensable syngas with vaporized light liquids and incandescent char. The syngas and vaporized light liquids are desulfurized and upgraded in a first hot gas cleanup, while part of the hot char is gasified with air into a fuel gas and into oil-free, tar-free, dry, solid tailings; the other part used as fuel for heating the pyrolyzer. The fuel gas passes through a second hot gas cleanup, producing clean, desulfurized lean gas ideal to generate clean, efficient electric power. Emitted CO 2  is collected and converted to slow-release fertilizer. The tailings (clean sand and clay) reclaim the mine, while fertilizer enriched soil, topping the tailings, accelerates forest growth.

INTRODUCTION

This invention relates to the mining industry which deals withextracting and processing bitumen from various sources, and by way ofexample such extracting and processing is herein focused with therecovery of oil from oil sands, which is also known as “tar sands,”whose bitumen contains sand, clay and moisture, and is mined in open-pitpractice.

BACKGROUND

In open-pit mining, large, hydraulic/electric shovels do the digging andthe loading of trucks that deliver the mined oil sands to processingcomplexes. These complexes use very large quantities of water to washthe sand from the bitumen. After the separation of the sand from thebitumen, the water is too dirty to discharge into a body of water, suchas a river, from where the water was derived. Current practice is tostore such dirty/oily water in ponds, which are called tailings ponds,that can be as big as the mines themselves, creating a major negativeenvironmental problem. Further, the processing complexes utilize largequantities of natural gas to heat the water to about 170° F. to wash outthe bitumen as a first step and is followed by a second step to heat thewater into steam to about 900° F. and compress the raw bitumen to some1,500 PSI to upgrade the oil in the bitumen by subtracting carbon toresult in a lighter hydrocarbon liquid.

OBJECTIVE

The main object of the present invention is to produce valuable,desulfurized light liquids directly from open-pit mining of crushedrun-of-mine bitumen.

Another object of this invention is to do away with the use of water inthe processing of the oil sands which contain the bitumen.

Therefore another object of the present invention is to provide asuperior technology and apparatus that will lower the processing cost ofoil sand bitumen.

Yet another object of the instant invention is to eliminate the use oftailings ponds which contain clay and sand particles that take severalyears to settle, and when they do settle, produce bodies of watercontaining toxic chemicals such as naphthenic acid and polycyclichydrocarbons.

Further another object of the present invention is to reduce the energyconsumption in the processing of bitumen from the oil sands.

Still another object of the instant invention is to produce a clean,hydrogen rich synthetic gas as a by-product that can be converted to aclean transport fuel such as gasoline, or dimethyl ether which canreplace dirty diesel to fuel the large trucks that transport the oilsands from where it is mined to the processing complexes.

Further still another object of the present invention is to provide anenvironmentally closed method and equipment to carry the method.

Further yet another object of the instant invention is to provide acontinuous method and equipment to carry the method.

It is therefore another object of the present invention to co-produceelectric power as a by-product that is useful in the recovery andprocessing of the bitumen.

It is yet another object of the instant invention to co-produce afertilizer as a by-product which is useful in the acceleration of minedland reclamation.

It is still another object of the present invention to co-produce a fuelin the form of a char from the mined bitumen which is utilized as theenergy source in the pyrolysis step which de-asphalts the bitumen.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the following detaileddescription and appended claims. Reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification wherein like referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in the various figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general layout of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a pyrolyzing reactor in perspective which canefficiently process the bitumen from open-pit mining.

FIG. 3 is a partial, longitudinal section of the pyrolyzing reactor,including a cross-section view taken at A-A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates the end view of a battery of pyrolyzing reactors tosatisfy large production needs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is made to FIG. 1 wherein the following numerals represent themain components: 10 marks the pyrolyzer; 11 marks the char gasifier; 12marks the char quencher; 13, the hot gas cleanup; 14, the separator ofthe syngas from the light liquids; 15, the combined cycle electric powergeneration; 16, the alternating reducing reactors comprising a portionof the fertilizer plant; 17, the fertilizer (oxamide) reactor; 18, thedual beds of activated carbon for mercury removal; and 19 is theequipment to feed the raw materials to be processed in pyrolyzer 10.

Pyrolyzer 10 is made up of charger 20, pyrolyzing chamber 21, radiantzone 22, downcomer 23, and flow control valve 24, from which bifurcatedpipe 25 forms a delivery pipe assembly, with pipe 26 connectingdowncomer 23 thence to char gasifier 11 by way of control valve 28, andpipe 27 connecting downcomer 23 to char quencher 12 by way of controlvalve 29.

Gasifier 11 comprises vessel 30, which is equipped with injection pointsat different levels for a gas containing oxygen, such as air, to reactwith hot char to produce a fuel gas; gasifier 11 possesses at its bottomdischarge cooler 31, with exit port 32. Below cooler 31, lockhopper 33is provided, which is controlled by upper valve 34 and by lower valve35. At about mid-point of gasifier 11, a special manifold marked bynumeral 36 serves for the injection of flue gases containing CO₂ forreducing the CO₂ into 2CO. Quencher 12 comprises vessel 37, which isequipped with multi-level manifolds, like manifold 38, that graduallycool the char below ignition point prior to being periodicallydischarged to the atmosphere by means of valve 39.

The equipment to feed the mined raw materials is marked by numeral 19,and comprises skip 40, which elevates the raw bitumen that containssand, clay and moisture from ground to conveyor 42 and skip 41, whichelevates the char (fuel) from ground to conveyor 43, which in turnconveyor 42 discharges to feeder 44 and conveyor 43 discharges to feeder45.

Gas cleanup 13 is made up of three vessels, marked by numerals 46, 47,and 48. Vessel 46 cracks and simultaneously desulfurizes the volatilematter from pyrolyzer 10; vessel 47 cleans the fuel gas made up ofnitrogen (N₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) gas from gasifier 11; and vessel48 serves to regenerate the sorbent and produce elemental sulfurdirectly. All three vessels are equipped with feeders denoted by numeral49. Vessel 48 interconnects with vessels 46 and 47 via the invertedY-pipe that is marked by numeral 50, which is equipped with diversionvalves 51. Gas cleanup 13 is equipped with pneumatic transporters 52 toconvey the spent sorbent from vessels 46 and 47 to regenerator 48.

Cyanogen make-up equipment 16 comprises reactor 53 “A” and reactor 53“B” with gas temperature moderator denoted by numeral 54 being upstreamof “A” and “B,” and chiller-liquefier which is denoted by numeral 55being downstream. A separator marked by numeral 56 is provided tosegregate the liquefied cyanogen from the unreacted gases which aredirected (not shown) to pyrolyzer 10.

Downstream of separator 56, oxamide maker 17 is located. It consists ofreactor 57, settling tank 58, filter press 59, drier 60, and stacker 61.Pump 62 is provided to separator 56 to pump the liquefied cyanogen toevaporator 63, and pump 64 serves to circulate the liquid catalyst tothe top of reactor 57; a heater denoted by numeral 65 serves to adjustthe temperature of the liquid catalyst.

The mercury removal system marked by numeral 18, which consists ofactivated carbon beds, comprises beds “a” and “b,” with the practicebeing when bed “a” is in absorption of mercury, bed “b” is inregeneration mode, and when bed “b” is in absorption, while bed “a” isin regeneration mode.

The electric power generation system in this invention, marked bynumeral 15, is preferably fueled with a clean, lean gas (fuel gas) fedfrom cleanup vessel 47 and comprises gas turbine numeral 66, heatrecovery steam generator 67, and steam turbine 68, forming a combinedcycle configuration which is a most efficient way of generating power.

FIG. 2 illustrates in perspective the pyrolyzer denoted by numeral 10and is made up of feeders 44 and 45, charger 20, pyrolyzation chamberdenoted by numeral 21, radiant zone 22, and control valve 24. The oilsands and the char are fed by way of pipes 81 and 85, respectively,using a “Y” piping configuration. The exit port for the H₂ rich volatilematter is marked by numeral 86.

Referring now to FIG. 3, lance 71, in addition to its capability toinject oxygen through its tip denoted by numeral 82, is equipped withinjection nozzles on its side denoted by numeral 83. Lance 71, likemandrel 70 and ram 69, is adapted to advance and retract independently,and because of the high temperature surrounding lance 71, it is cooledpreferably with water circulating through it in a closed loop.

It is to be noted that in providing lance 71 wherein the char charged iscombusted under suppressed conditions (in a pressurized, controlledreducing atmosphere), heat transfer within chamber 21 is markedlyimproved, thus enhancing the rate at which the bitumen, containing sand,clay and water, devolatilizes into volatile matter, while vigorouslycracking tars to such an extent that carbon is deposited on the sand andclay while the water turns into water-gas (H₂+CO) within chamber 21.Further, the bitumen is heated peripherally by means of injectionnozzles disposed through shell 77 and refractory 75, one of which beingmarked by numeral 80, with such nozzles being supplied with a gascontaining oxygen furnished by manifold 79, thus providing direct,pressurized, bi-directional, efficient heating that increases therelease of the volatile matter from the bitumen to such an extent thatvirtually all the oils in the bitumen are recovered in vapor form whileits tar is carbonized, producing carbonized sand and clay.

In the instant application, wherein carbon in the char (as a core withinchamber 21) is combusted in a pressurized reducing atmosphere, thecombustion of bitumen which surrounds the core is virtually prevented.To achieve this objective, numeral 21 is the pyrolyzing chamber, numeral20 is the charger, numeral 81 is the feed hopper, numeral 69 is the ram,numeral 70 is the mandrel, numeral 71 is the injection lance, numeral 82is the nozzle at the tip of lance 71, and numeral 83 is one of theseveral nozzles disposed at the side of lance 71, numeral 72 is the charfuel, numeral 73 is the charged bitumen containing sand, clay and water,and numeral 75 is the refractory/insulation which is configured as amonolithic structure that is reinforced with metallic needles such asstainless steel needles, marked by numeral 84 (shown in SECTION A-A),somewhat similar to imbedding steel wire in reinforced concrete; thisstructure is cast in place against shell 77.

In the case of heating the material peripherally directly by combustingchar (not shown), oxygen is introduced through shell 77 by means ofinjectors, one such injector being marked by numeral 80 supplied bymanifold 79. When combustion takes place peripherally and the materialis bitumen, it is possible to also charge char around the perimeter ofthe bitumen annulus by providing an additional mandrel thatcircumscribes ram 69 to form a ring of char around the periphery of thebitumen. In so doing, the combustion effected by injectors, such asinjector 80, consumes the ring of char, instead of combusting thebitumen.

In the case of heating the material peripherally indirectly, numeral 74represents the manifold for distributing hot heating gas into aplurality of small-diameter flues installed in refractory/insulation 75,one such flue being marked by numeral 76 carrying hot gases that heatrefractory 75, which in turn heats indirectly the bitumen marked mynumeral 78 shown in Section A-A. It is to be noted that towards the exitend of pyrolyzing chamber 21, the bitumen has been completelydevolatilized, yielding a residual consisting of a char made up ofcarbonized sand and clay devoid of any oil. Referring to FIG. 4, itillustrates a group of pyrolyzers configured in battery form to providea modular structure in order to enable it to efficiently scale-upproductive capacity by replication.

OPERATION

To describe the operation of this invention based on extensive test workthat had taken place and referenced hereinafter begins with usingunprepared, crushed run-of-mine bitumen preferably of three inches andunder that is directly fed into a battery of pyrolyzers where thecracking of asphalt results in a tar-free bitumen in the form ofvolatile matter containing a hydrogen rich, non-condensable raw syngastogether with vaporized light liquids and incandescent char. The syngasand vaporized light liquids are desulfurized and upgraded in a first hotgas cleanup, while a part of the hot char is gasified with air into afuel gas and oil-free, tar-free tailings containing clean sand and cleanclay; the other part of the char is used as fuel for heating thepyrolyzer. The fuel gas from the gasifier is passed through a second hotgas cleanup, producing a clean, desulfurized lean gas which is ideal togenerate clean, efficient electric power with the emitted CO₂ from powergeneration collected and converted to slow-release fertilizer that canbe mixed with top soil, which had been removed prior to mining thebitumen, to form a rich top soil. The oil-free, tar-free tailings,consisting of clean sand and clean clay, are used in the reclamation ofthe open-pit mine and topped with the rich soil to enhance andaccelerate plant growth to create forest land.

The test work performed in the Applicant's pilot in cooperation with Sunrefining proved that the method described herein, which uses CaO assorbent, produced light liquids from cracking residuum (heavy bitumen)from its Philadelphia Refinery against CaO as sorbent. Such lightliquids were referred to by Sun as “excellent feedstocks and can beseparated by a simple distillation process into valuable intermediates”;see Exhibit 1, page 1 of 2.

Data that was produced by way of the tests (see Exhibit 1, page 2 of 2)showed that the Ramsbottom Carbon (by weight percentage) of the residuumwas converted from 18.2% to 1.24% in test Run #3, to 0.59% in test Run#4, and to 0.31% in test Run #5. Further, for the Pour Point temperaturein ° F., the residuum was 145° F., and in tests #3, #4, and #5, thetemperature was reduced to −20° F. Also, the INITIAL BOILING POINT ofthe residuum dropped from 802° F.: in test #3 to 108° F., in test #4 to154° F., and in test #5 to 135° F. This data show that the method hereindescribed—which is based on the replication of the test work performed,except at commercial scale—should produce outstanding results inproducing light liquids from bitumen. It is also important to discloseherein that the syngas (Rich Gas Sample—Test Run #3) produced in Mole %as follows: H₂—57.3%; CH₄—36.6%; N₂—3%; C₂H₄—1.8%; CO—1.6%; and CO₂—only0.7%.

With respect to residual bitumen after pyrolysis, tests were conductedin 1997 at Applicant's Process Development Unit (Exhibit 2) makingmetallurgical coke from coal; the coke produced was tested for variousproperties including residual volatile matter after pyrolysis. Intesting the coke made from Bethlehem Steel's coal, the residual volatilematter was 0.58%, and with coke made from U.S. Steel's three coals, theresidual volatile matter was 0.55% from Blue Tag Coal, 0.48% fromLow-Vol coal, and 0.70% from White Tag coal; see Exhibit 3. In the testsconducted, whether the feedstock was heavy oil (bitumen) or coal, thesefeedstocks were pyrolyzed in sealed tubes in which cracking of tars tookplace as proposed herein; in the case of sulfur removal, the gasproduced had no H₂S, as reported in Exhibit 1, page 1 of 2. Productionof elemental sulfur during regeneration was reported by Sun; see Exhibit4, and the chemistry for such results are published in The Making,Shaping and Treating of Steel, 11^(th) edition; see Exhibit 5.

In conclusion, based on the test work done and the herein description,the objectives listed towards the beginning of this disclosure areachievable. It is submitted herein that the instant method and apparatusprovide major improvements over the conventional practice of processingopen-pit mining of bitumen including oil sands. The details ofconstruction mentioned above are for the purpose of description and notlimitation, since other configurations are possible without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. Further, other materials besidesbitumen from oil sands can be processed in the apparatus hereindescribed.

1. A method for processing a bitumen containing any one and possibly allof the following impurities, such as tars, oily sand, oily clay, oilywater, and any other unspecified impurity, into a clean, desulfurizedsynthetic gas and clean, desulfurized light liquids comprising thefollowing step: force-feeding the bitumen into an enclosed pyrolyzingreactor having a charging end and a discharging end, with thedischarging end integrated to a char gasifier; heating said bitumenwithin said pyrolyzing reactor under pressure in a reducing atmospherein such a way as to have the charging end at low temperature and thedischarging end at high temperature to cause the release of a volatilematter from said bitumen which is made up of a raw, non-condensable H₂rich synthetic gas (syngas) together with vaporized, condensableliquids, and the production of a hot, incandescent, residual char thatconverts steam from any water originating from said bitumen, presentwithin said pyrolyzing reactor to water gas (H₂+CO), while preventingthe emission of noxious gases into the environment surrounding saidpyrolyzing reactor; advancing said bitumen within said pyrolyzingreactor from said charging end to said discharging end while crackingtars and heavy oils prior to said char being discharged into said chargasifier; passing said raw, non-condensable syngas and vaporized liquidsthrough a first hot gas cleanup to react with a hot sorbent todesulfurize both the syngas and the vaporized liquids and ensure thecracking of residual tar or heavy hydrocarbons in the syngas and/or inthe vaporized liquids to convert them to a substantially clean,desulfurized syngas and substantially clean, desulfurized light liquids;gasifying said hot char into a fuel gas while producing an inert ashmade up of a combination of dry sand and dry clay with both beingsubstantially devoid of oil; passing said fuel gas through a second hotgas cleanup to produce a desulfurized fuel gas; and separating saidsubstantially clean, desulfurized syngas from said substantially clean,desulfurized, vaporized light liquids by way of condensation of saidvaporized light liquids, resulting in a clean, desulfurized syngas perse and a clean, desulfurized condensate made up of light liquids.
 2. Themethod as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bitumen is recovered from anopen-pit mine and delivered to a processing plant.
 3. The method as setforth in claim 2 wherein said bitumen is recovered from an open-pit minewhose resource is oil sands, which are also known as tar sands.
 4. Themethod as set forth in claim 3 wherein said oil sands are processed ascrushed run-of-mine bitumen without further preparation.
 5. The methodas set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of force-feeding the bitumeninto an enclosed pyrolyzing reactor is further characterized by the stepof employing a charger which continually compresses the bitumen chargedinto said pyrolyzing reactor to increase the bulk density of saidbitumen within said pyrolyzing reactor while causing the advancement ofthe compressed bitumen towards the discharging end of said pyrolyzingreactor to result in discharging hot char from the discharge end of saidpyrolyzing reactor into said gasifier.
 6. The method as set forth inclaim 1 comprising the step of heating said bitumen within saidpyrolyzing reactor wherein the production of a hot, incandescent charoccurs and is further characterized by the step of dividing the streamof said char into two parts, the first part of said char being directedto a gasifier and the second part of said char being directed to aquencher where the char is cooled below its ignition point, producing acold char prior to being discharged into the atmosphere.
 7. The methodas set forth in claim 6 wherein said second part of said char beingdirected to a quencher, serves after being cooled, as a carbon fuel insaid pyrolyzing reactor to devolatilize bitumen when this carbon fuel iscombusted.
 8. The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said carbonfuel is co-fed with bitumen into said pyrolyzing reactor.
 9. The methodas set forth in claim 8 wherein said carbon fuel co-fed with saidbitumen into said pyrolyzing reactor, are charged into said pyrolyzingreactor in such a way as to have the carbon fuel forming a coresurrounded by an annulus of said bitumen.
 10. The method as set forth inclaim 9 wherein said core is configured with a bore through its centerand extending along the longitudinal axis of said core.
 11. The methodas set forth in claim 10 wherein said bore accommodates a cooled lanceto inject a gas containing oxygen in order to combust said core withinsaid pyrolyzing reactor under reducing conditions to cause an internalrelease of thermal energy that heats said bitumen annulus.
 12. Themethod as set forth in claim 11 wherein said bore accommodates a cooledlance to inject a gas containing oxygen is further characterized by saidlance having an injection port at its tip and additional injection portsdispersed along its length in order to increase heating area of thebitumen contained within said pyrolyzing reactor.
 13. The method as setforth in claim 11 wherein said internal release of the thermal energythat heats said bitumen annulus is complemented by heating said bitumenannulus peripherally in order to provide thermal energy bi-directionallyto efficiently cause the release of volatile matter from said bitumen.14. The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein the step to providethermal energy bi-directionally to efficiently cause the release ofvolatile matter from said bitumen is further characterized bymaintaining a positive pressure within said pyrolyzing reactor tofurther accelerate the release of volatile matter from the bitumen. 15.The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of passing said raw,non-condensable syngas and vaporized liquids through a first hot gascleanup to react with said hot sorbent is further characterized by saidsorbent being a CaO which absorbs sulfur and cracks hydrocarbons,becoming a CaS carbon impregnated.
 16. The method as set forth in claim15 wherein CaS carbon impregnated is regenerated back to CaO whileheated to elevated temperature by virtue of the carbon burning duringregeneration yielding also a lean fuel gas with entrained vaporizedelemental sulfur.
 17. The method as set forth in claim 16 wherein saidlean fuel gas with entrained vaporized elemental sulfur is separatedfrom said vaporized elemental sulfur by means of condensation of theelemental sulfur, resulting in a useful, clean, lean fuel gas.
 18. Themethod as set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of gasifying said hotchar into a fuel gas and passing it through a second hot gas cleanup toproduce a desulfurized fuel gas is further characterized by combiningthis fuel gas with the lean fuel gas generated according to claim 17,results in producing a clean and adequate gaseous fuel resource destinedto: (i) generate electric power and (ii) serve as a feedstock to producefertilizer.
 19. The method as set forth in claim 18 wherein said cleangaseous fuel resource destined to generate electric power preferably isused in the generation of power via the combined cycle mode, and saidclean gaseous fuel resource destined to serve as a feedstock to producefertilizer, preferably is used in the production of oxamide which is aslow-release fertilizer.
 20. The method as set forth in claim 18 whereinsaid gaseous resource destined to generate electric power is furthercharacterized by the production of CO₂ when combusted to generate powerincludes the collecting of the CO₂ and injecting it into hot,incandescent char contained in the gasifier referenced in claim 1, inorder to convert the CO₂ to 2CO which is a useful chemical or fuel. 21.The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the desulfurized syngas andthe desulfurized light liquids are converted to useful by-products suchas with the syngas converted to transport fuels like methanol/gasoline,dimethyl ether or chemicals, and with the desulfurized light liquidsconverted to downstream products such as gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil,etc.
 22. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the step ofgasifying said hot char into a fuel gas while producing an inert ashmade up of a combination of dry sand and dry clay with both beingsubstantially devoid of oil is further characterized by eliminatingoily, dirty tailings, making it possible to reclaim mined property soonafter the extraction of the bitumen from the mine, whilefertilizer-enriched soil topping the dry sand and dry clay acceleratesforest growth.
 23. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein no wateris used to process the extracted bitumen from open-pit mining.
 24. Themethod as set forth in claim 1 wherein the source of fuel for theprocessing of bitumen extracted from open-pit mining originates from thebitumen itself.
 25. Apparatus to process a bitumen containing impuritiesthat produces from said bitumen a volatile matter which after cleanupyields a clean desulfurized synthetic gas and clean desulfurized lightliquids comprising the following: a pyrolyzing reactor within which thebitumen is pyrolyzed to release volatile matter, having: (i) a chargingend equipped with a charging mechanism adapted to force-feed andcompress said bitumen within said pyrolyzing reactor, causing theadvancement of said bitumen along the length of said pyrolyzing reactor,and (ii) a discharging end integrally connected to a gasifier which isadapted to receive residual char produced in said pyrolyzing reactor,and to gasify said char while producing from it a fuel gas together withan inert ash; means adapted to heat said bitumen within said pyrolyzingreactor; a first hot gas cleanup adapted to desulfurize and crackresidual heavy hydrocarbons producing a clean synthesis gas and cleanlight liquids from said volatile matter; a second hot gas cleanupadapted to desulfurize fuel gas produced in said gasifier; and a sorbentregeneration means adapted to regenerate a carbon-impregnated sulfidatedsorbent in the form of C+CaS by combusting said carbon to result inheating the regenerated sorbent (CaO) while producing a fuel gascontaining elemental sulfur which is separated from the fuel gas in acondenser.
 26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein saidcharging mechanism comprises a pushing ram that cycles between advancesand retractions to effect the force-feed action to introduce andcompress the bitumen into said pyrolyzing reactor.
 27. The apparatus asset forth in claim 26 wherein said ram is constructed as a cylinder witha bore along its longitudinal axis to accommodate a mandrel that iscircumscribed by said ram that is adapted to advance and retractindependently from the advancement and retraction of said ram.
 28. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 27 wherein said mandrel is constructedas a cylinder with a bore along its longitudinal axis to accommodate alance which is adapted to advance and retract independently from theadvancement and retraction of said mandrel.
 29. The apparatus as setforth in claim 28 wherein said lance possesses the capability to injecta gas containing oxygen in order to combust a fuel to heat said bitumen.30. The apparatus as set forth in claim 29 wherein said fuel is char.31. The apparatus as set forth in claim 30 wherein said char is aproduct derived from the bitumen.
 32. The apparatus as set forth inclaim 28 wherein said lance is adapted to inject a gas containing oxygenfrom its tip.
 33. The apparatus as set forth in claim 32 wherein saidlance is adapted to inject a gas containing oxygen from nozzle meansprovided in the sides of said lance.
 34. The apparatus as set forth inclaim 27 wherein said mandrel together with said ram are adapted to forma core of fuel surrounded by an annulus of bitumen.
 35. The apparatus asset forth in claim 25 wherein said pyrolyzing reactor is adapted to beco-fed with both fuel and bitumen.
 36. The apparatus as set forth inclaim 25 wherein the discharging end of said pyrolyzing reactor isadapted to discharge hot incandescent char to said gasifier and also toa cooling quencher to produce a cool char prior to exposing such char tothe atmosphere.
 37. The apparatus as set forth in claim 36 wherein aconveying system is included to deliver the cool char to said chargingmechanism referenced in claim
 25. 38. The apparatus as set forth inclaim 25 wherein means are included to utilize said fuel gas produced togenerate electric power.
 39. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25wherein means are provided to air blow said gasifier to produce a leangas containing nitrogen (N₂) and ash devoid of oil, with the N₂constituting a portion of a feedstock gas to make fertilizer.
 40. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein injection means are providedto inject the produced CO₂ into said gasifier to react with hotincandescent char to reduce the CO₂ to 2CO within said gasifier, withsuch 2CO becoming part of the feedstock to make fertilizer.
 41. Theapparatus as set forth in claims 39 and 40 wherein facilities areprovided to utilize said feedstock to produce fertilizer.
 42. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein equipment adapted to removemercury from gas is included.
 43. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25wherein means are included to operate the equipment under pressure. 44.The apparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein said pyrolyzing reactoris configured with a taper extending from its charging end to itsdischarging end to provide an ever-increasing dimension towards thedischarging end to facilitate the movement of the bitumen towards thedischarging end of said pyrolyzing reactor.
 45. The apparatus as setforth in claim 25 wherein said pyrolyzing reactor is replicated to forman assembly of reactors in battery form to meet a specific productioncapacity.